Following the release of its 2007 financial results on Tuesday, in which it reported a profit of R4.3 billion, the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) says its ICT sector support has jumped 300% on its 2006 investments.
The IDC's reported profit has increased 477%, from R753 million in 2006. The corporation also received new funding to the tune of R5.9 billion for the next financial year, not R4.2 billion as previously reported.
Says IDC corporate affairs head Dante Mashile: "Our funding activities were mainly in techno-industries or ICT, mining and beneficiation, public private partnerships, transport and financial services.
"It is important to note that the ICT sector is among the top sectors supported by the IDC. The IDC techno business unit concentrates on high development impact areas within the telecommunications, IT, electronics and electrical sectors. The unit is aligned with the government's stated objective to invest in ICT to drive economic growth."
Committed to IT
Mashile states this alignment is clearly shown in the corporation's investments in the sector, which accounted for 11% of the IDC's R5.9 billion worth of approvals for the 2007 financial year-end. This makes it the third-best supported sector for the year, he adds.
"Some of this year's investment went into establishing the second national operator and a 500-seater call centre in Randburg. The value of approvals for the financial year ended 31 March 2007 was R681 million, compared with last year's R161 million, an improvement of more than 300%," he says.
This is also a significant improvement on its 2005 spend of R205 million.
"The techno unit is committed to continued investments into the sector, with the main focus being on the business process and outsourcing sub-sector, which has been prioritised as part of the Asgisa programme. Businesses operating in the sector and other technology-intensive sectors are welcome to contact the IDC for funding assistance," Mashile concludes.
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